This weekend the Black Arts Love Mixer and Market had even more vendors than I remembered, a lot of new faces and a lot of returning ones that gave me a chance to re-stock on my favorite brands. As I walked through the door my attention was drawn to the painting section where children were encouraged to tap into their creativity. Black Arts Love has hosted several different activities in collaboration with the Market one of which I especially love to see, children getting the chance to leave with their own work, learning art techniques from professionals while getting a chance to get hands on experience painting. While contributing to the growth of new developing artists the Mixer also put professional artists’ work on display. Lucien Lekea’s Natty Dred Illustrations graciously donated one of his pieces, “Hyena Tamer” to auction off during the event. I own three of his prints, after meeting him at last year’s Spring Mixer I’ve followed his work and he’s a talented artist whose work stems from his own life experiences. Along with Lucian another artist I’d recognized from past years was Thaddeus Hunnicutt, a Seattle Native graphic artist who’s patterned and colorful pieces are striking. Your eye bounces around the geometry of his work which effectively work to communicate the beautiful complexity of African Culture.
While I love all types of artwork this season I was on a mission for more earrings ever-since purchasing a pair of yellow elephant head shaped hoops from Sugar Foot Accessories at the last Black Arts Love Mixer. Those hoops received nonstop compliments regardless of the occasion. I got 3 new pairs of earrings from them, the designs are beautifully bold and colorful. Continuing to ride on my focus for more accessories my eye was drawn to Amen Hotep, a designer of his jewelry brand UnderFyah. I was inspired by his journey towards owning his business. Amen had originally worked for another jeweler for five years providing his bosses with his creative designs. He’d realized that his items were some of the most popular in the store and customers came just to speak to him. After being mistaken for the owner of the shop, he’d realized that his passion for the subject of stone therapy and talent for design was a gift that called for him to expand beyond working for another company that was focus more on money than anything else. He knew that he could offer a product for a price that people could afford and be proud to own. He told me that he wanted people to experience the benefit of the stones. After hearing his story I even wanted to benefit from the stones’ energy that described to me. My eyes were drawn to a swirly black bracelet one he’d said he’d just casually been working on but I bought it excited to wear one of his original unique pieces, the first of his Black Matter Collection.As always I had to get my fix of whipped Shea Butter from Avenue South. The creamy lavender-scented product has become an essential apart of my daily routine as a deodorizer and moisturizer. I tried some new products as well. Queen Care’s 16oz $20 Lavender Vanilla brown sugar body scrub, it smells dangerously delicious and as I’ve mentioned I’m a sucker for lavender. The scrub exfoliates your skin leaving it soft and moisturizer with a light scent of sweetness. She had a few other flavors of the scrub and comparable body creams as well. In addition to these products I got a hair elixir from Natural Essence, a $20 2oz hair oil promoting stronger and thicker hair growth. I was overjoyed to see a tea tree based hair oil because my scalp had dry and nothing would alleviate the itch for long. As soon as I got home I gave my hair a thorough wash and massaged the oil into my scalp and now feels so much better!
I also got some clothing accessories at the market. I got a chance to meet Cam, owner of SBK appeal and co-founder of LadiesWhoHustle. Cam is designer her own caps, shirts, sweaters and other clothing items whose clothes call attention to the central district, a historically Black area, for centuries Central District was the only area in Seattle where Blacks were allowed to rent or own a home, an area that is now currently suffering from gentrification as Blacks are being pushed out. I purchased one of Cam’s ski masks jokingly asking, “Would this be safe for me to wear?” She showed me how the hat was cleverly designed to also be worn as a skull camp by flipping the brim over the eye and mouth holes in the cap. The clever design of her politically striking pieces won me over.Another thing I love about the Black Arts Mixer is seeing the many generations of family represented at the booths. While admiring cupcakes that I knew I wouldn’t be able to persuade myself to eat I met Kimberly, owner of Parties, Cakes and Crafts…OH MY! However I did persuade myself to get another pair of earrings. She’d also introduced me to her daughter Brittiany, who was selling products from her own line of bath salts that smelt fantastic. Seeing Kimberly and her daughter reminded me that Black Arts Love isn’t just another community event, it’s an opportunity to showcase our talent, redistribute the wealth in our community by keeping the Black dollar Black for longer than the embarrassing national average of six hours. According to the Selig Center, “Money 
circulates zero to one time within the black community, compared to the more than six times it circulates in the Latino community, nine times in the Asian community and unlimited amount of times within the white community.” In response to this we need to make much more of an effort to contribute to Black wealth. In my case, I waited until the market to get earrings instead of making a quick stop to Clair’s and I invested time to drive to there on a Saturday rather than conveniently shopping on Amazon. Building up an economically repressed community it’s going to be quick, easy or convenient but it feels amazing. It feels great to know that I’m re-investing in myself because that’s exactly what buying Black feels like as a Black person. Check out some of the products I purchased at the Mixer below:
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